A Stray Pebble
by wrackspurts nargles
Summary: My name is Kurokawa Tomomi. (My name is Jennifer Addleston). I don't want to die. (I am dead).
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

My name is Kurokawa Tomomi.

_My name is Jennifer Addleston._

I am five years old.

_I am fifteen._

My father was a merchant and my mother a librarian. Both were native to Konoha. Both are dead.

_My dad is a lawyer born in Germany and my mom is an editor born in England. Neither is dead._

I am an only child.

_I have two older brothers, William and Charles, also known as Will and Charlie._

I was born on the sixteenth of May.

_My birthday is April, 24th._

I don't want to die.

_I am dead._

* * *

Obito didn't quite know what to make of the new girl. She was just so _little, _and _small_, and _tiny_. She always beat him in both theory and practicals so he'd never call her weak, or stupid, or too young but still, she was _so little_.

They said she was a genius, which he supposed ought to be true since it turned out she was two years younger than the majority of the class and was still better at practically _everything _than the majority of the class, but she wasn't a jerk like that Kakashi kid who aced everything and graduated early and got a teacher and left. She was just _really_ quiet, even quieter than the Aburame kid he could never remember the name of though he tried - honest he did! - and never spoke up or played with the rest of the class (though that probably was more because the other kids didn't want to have to babysit a five-year-old rather than because she was quiet). But Rin wasn't like that, she always tried to include her since Rin was really, really nice, almost like an angel!

Anyway, he hadn't been thinking about Rin (though Rin always deserved to be thought about) he'd been thinking about the new girl. Did he mention she was tiny? Well, she was cause she didn't even reach his nose and he wasn't even on the tall side of the class. He was going to grow taller though! Huh, if she managed to reach his nose when he grew taller than would that make her tall too? He didn't want her to stay small cause being small sucked but he wasn't quite sure he wanted her to be tall either. She had white hair and white eyes and white skin and if she dressed all in white he thought she'd look an awful lot like a ghost and he figured small ghosts were probably less scary than big ghosts so he'd rather she stayed small unless she decided to dye her hair. Though black wouldn't help much either, now that he thought of it. Now he was going to have nightmares about black-haired white-eyed ghosts sitting on the swings staring straight at him and oh, she was looking at him, should he say hi?

"Hi!"

She looked away and Obito wasn't sure, was that supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing? He supposed it was bad that she didn't even bother to say hello (if his grandmother had seen that she would have been furious and would have gone on to mutter for hours about how kids these days didn't have manners) but to be honest, he wasn't quite sure what he would have done if she had said hello. Should he have kept on talking to her? Offered to push her on the swings? There wasn't a point in wondering when she didn't, though, so he supposed it was a sort of good thing.

It was kind of sad that she didn't have any friends to push her on the swings. He knows he would have been awfully lonely and sad if he didn't have Rin to be his friend and even though he never saw Kakashi playing with anyone Gai was always looking for him for a challenge so he probably counted as his friend or at least a rival, so even a jerk like him had someone to talk to but it didn't look like she did. She was always sitting alone and never played with anyone and even if Asuma sometimes said something mean like how she was a stuck-up brat and that was why she didn't bother talking to anyone, Obito thought she might just be a little shy. At least that was what it looked like to him.

He supposed he could try talking to her first, but, well, she might not want to talk to him. After all, some of the older Uchiha kids didn't like him. Even if his grandmother kept telling him it was the other kids who were stupid and fat jerks (not quite in those terms but he knew that was what she was trying to say) it didn't change the fact that they sometimes took his stuff and called him names. So maybe, if he talked to her they'd start picking on her and that would be downright _mean._ She's five! And tiny! Even if she could probably kick most other kids' asses, they were Uchiha's and even she wouldn't be able to kick their asses, would she?

Well, she might be able to, since Obito knew for a fact that Kakashi could and the teachers and adults said she was a genius and Kakashi was a genius, but still, Kakashi was a boy and boys were stronger than girls. At least that's what he thought since most of the time boys cried a lot less easy than girls.

Not all girls, of course, there was that Inuzuka girl that made at least four boys cry before the teachers dragged her away, but for some reason, he had a feeling she was the weird one, not the normal one.

Then again, there's Rin and Rin only cries when she's sad, and when other kids bother her or her friends she doesn't get sad, she gets angry and she's _scary_ when she's angry. Which is why he's very, very glad Rin's his friend and plays with him during lunch and after school. Oh, his grandmother packed him sausages today! Rin liked sausages, maybe she'd want some?

"Rin, let's eat lunch together!"

Ooh, Rin's brought _tomatoes_. They could swap!

* * *

It was loud, dirty, smelly, and _tiring._

_He will turn evil. She will die. I don't even know his name - will he live? Will he die?_

I'm supposed to be making friends. Suzuki-sensei said I was to make friends since being smart and clever and quick and agile meant nothing if I couldn't learn how to work with other people, but how am I supposed to become friends with children who didn't understand what it meant to be a shinobi? What it means to die?

_There's going to be a war and nobody knows. They just keep laughing and laughing and _laughing _like everything's going to be alright but it's _not, _nothing's alright and most of them are going to end up as cannon fodder._

I should try, I know that, but will it be worth the effort?

_Failure after putting in my best is always harder to accept than failure after barely trying - after all, it's the difference between 'my best wasn't enough' and 'I could have done better'._

I don't want to try. Trying is scary, especially when hard work doesn't automatically translate into success and I could find myself trying and trying and trying when no matter how much I try doesn't even matter in the end because what I've been trying to do is impossible.

'_I could have done better' means you live with regret but 'my best wasn't enough' means you die with despair._

But I don't want to die.

_I don't want to die._

So I have to try, don't I?

_Will it matter?_

* * *

They were graduating! They were going to be genin! They were going to be _real shinobi!_

"Rin, we're -"

"Graduating, yes, you've said that at least a dozen times since we got here," Rin's voice was dry, and, fine, he might have said it a couple of times (definitely not as many as a dozen though), but still, they were _graduating_.

"Right, right, sorry. But we're _graduating_."

"Yes, we are."

"We're _graduating."_

"Mmhmm."

"_Graduating."_

"Obito!"

"Sorry!"

They were _graduating. _Now they were going to be learning cool jutsus, like the one that let Uncle Kaien spit out boiling water, or the one that meant Aunt Shiemi could disappear so thoroughly even an Inuzuka couldn't find her. No more dead last Uchiha Obito, the disgrace of the clan. He'd be a _brilliant_ shinobi and he'd be a chuunin and then a jounin and one day, he'd become the Hokage and show them he could do it!

(Obito ignored the small part of him that remembered the day they brought back Aunt Kaede's body. He also chose not to dwell on the whispers he'd heard around the village. The whispers and rumours about how there was a war on the horizon and that was why there was a sudden pressure on the Academy to produce as many genin as possible.

_Being sent out to die_ they said. _Too young, too little training, too little experience_ they said.

But he wasn't like that. He was going to become the Hokage.

If he was too young, he was going to survive until he was older. If he had too little training, well, that was what they had a jounin-sensei for. If he had too little experience, he'll just gain more.

He was going to _live_.)

"Obito, pay attention, sensei's here!"

Oops. Obito hastily turned in his seat in front of Rin's to face the front of the class. They were going to be assigned their teams today, and if what he'd heard from the older shinobi was true, these teams were going to be like their second family. He really, really hoped he got someone nice like Rin or maybe Gai. Then again Gai might be a bit tiring, so maybe Kurenai would be better? Though he'd never heard of a team with more than two kunoichis. Huh, why was that?

"and Shiranui Genma. Team Seven will be Nohara Rin and Uchiha Obito. You will meet your third teammate after lunch with your jounin-sensei. Team Eight will be -"

Yes!

"Yes!"

"Obito! Quiet down!"

"Sorry, sensei!"

He was on the same team as Rin! He and Rin and whoever their third teammate was, was going to be the best Konoha team ever!

* * *

I was on the same team as Gai and Genma.

_But what about Ebisu?_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

So. He was on the same team as the two weirdos in green (though only one in spandex thank god). He knew Gai well enough. It was practically impossible to live in the same village as him and _not_ know Gai. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite say the same for Kurokawa. He knew she was six, liked to dress in dark greens and greys (practical for a shinobi, though not as pretty as Kurenai's red and pink) and was an orphan. She was also, according to everyone and their neighbour, a genius at anything related to using chakra like Kakashi was. Personality-wise, he knew next to nothing. Hard to, when he couldn't remember hearing her talk other than to answer a question when called on. Still, even if he didn't know one of his teammates that well, it might be a good thing, being put on the same team as a taijutsu genius and a baby prodigy. They were fairly well-balanced when it came to their skill sets - Gai with his taijutsu for close-combat, him with his senbon and poisons for mid-range and incapacitating their enemy, and Kurokawa with her everything else to take care everything else. Much better than some of the other teams he'd seen where no one knew how to do anything.

Then again.

He didn't sign up to be a shinobi to _babysit_.

"Ow!"

He quickly spat out the senbon he'd been chewing on when it pricked his tongue. Oh, dad was going to give him hell for that if mom didn't kill him first. He could argue that since he hadn't actually gotten around to poisoning his senbon there was no harm done, but -

Yep. Silence was the best.

"Don't tell anyone about that would you?"

"Of course!"

Good to know that graduation only made Gai louder.

"About what?"

Though not much smarter.

"Nothing."

Genma glanced at Kurokawa. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought she couldn't hear them. Really though, was she planning on ignoring them?

"Oi, Kurokawa, that goes for you too."

Oh, and would you look at that. She doesn't even bother to turn his way.

"So you're the new Team Six, am I right?"

Holy _shit_. He hadn't even noticed he was right there until he spoke, _how was that possible he was even larger than Aone-sensei_ -

"Yep," he fished out another senbon from his pocket and stuck it into his mouth. So sue him, he nearly had a heart attack. He deserved to do something soothing.

"Excellent," the huge man, an Akimichi, no doubt about that, beamed down at them. "I am Akimichi Chouza, your jounin-sensei from now on. Shall we talk in the courtyard?"

"Yosh! I will race everyone there!"

"Gai -" Aaaand he's gone. He didn't know why he expected anything else.

"Enthusiastic, is he?" Chouza-sensei just chuckled as he lumbered towards the door. Completely silently. Genma decided then, that he very much wanted to learn how to move as soundlessly as Chouza did, and that he'd beg if he had to.

* * *

What do I do, what do I do, whatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo -

_Everything's gone wrong, nothing was supposed to change, not yet, why would it change, I've messed things up -_

How can I fix this?.

_Where did I mess up?_

I'm six. I can't. _I can't_.

_All I wanted to do was live._

I don't know what to do.

_Is that so wrong?_

* * *

"Everyone settled? Good."

They were sitting under a tree by the swings. A couple of kids playing nearby kept sneaking glances at them but Genma didn't mind. He most definitely didn't reach up to adjust his hitaite and he most definitely didn't position it so it could be seen better.

"So, now that we've been assigned the same team, why don't you introduce yourselves? Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, and anything else you want to add."

Genma hesitated. Well, since he was the oldest, he supposed he could go first -

"Yosh!"

Or not.

"My name is Maito Gai! I like training with my father, turtles, those who work hard, challenging Kakashi, taijutsu, spicy curry, puppies -"

Puppies?

"flowers, spring, helping people, youth, children, babies -"

"And dislikes?"

Thank you, Chouza-sensei.

"I dislike, um, those who look down on people who work hard! And ants! And peas! My hobbies are training and cooking! My dream for the future is to become a taijutsu master!"

Complete with the pose.

"Shiranui Genma. I like training too, but not as much as Gai. I like my friends Raidou and Ebisu. I dislike, hmm, not much I suppose. My hobbies are, well, training, I guess. Oh, I like reading up on poisons and making my own too. My dream for the future is to become a poison specialist."

There. Nice and simple but with enough information that he didn't accidentally come across as uncooperative. He wasn't quite sure how this was relevant to their working together as a team, but, eh. It wasn't his place to judge.

"Kurokawa Tomomi. I like cats. I dislike - loud noises. My… I don't have any hobbies. My dream for the future is…"

Yes? Go on.

"If it's private you don't have to tell us," Chouza-sensei said kindly. Genma was quite proud of how he refrained from rolling his eyes. She was _six_. How private could her dream be?

"Well, then," Chouza-sensei said in the ensuing silence. "As I've said, my name is Akimichi Chouza. I like food as you've probably guessed, and I like training as well, though my family and friends are what I cherish the most. I dislike people who don't value their comrades or themselves, and my hobbies are cooking and training like Gai-kun. My dream is to become a good Clan Head."

Genma nodded as he carefully pushed his senbon a bit closer to the corner of his mouth with his tongue. He was not going to act like an idiot in front of his jounin-sensei the day he met him so he wasn't taking any chances when he was about to talk.

"When are we going to start training and taking missions?"

"Well, normally I'd give you a separate test to see if you're ready to be genin,"

What. A separate - well that explained why there were far fewer genin assigned to a jounin than the number of students who passed the graduation test.

"but I've looked over your Academy assessments and decided to skip the test, so we'll begin training and taking D-ranks tomorrow."

Genma raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Huh. Either this was one of the perks of being saddled with a genius or the rumours were true and Konoha was on the brink of war. If it was the latter, the higher-ups were probably trying to produce as many shinobi as possible even if they weren't quite up to scratch. After all, every war needed someone expendable to man the front lines.

* * *

My name is Kurokawa Tomomi.

_Was it his idea to skip the test or was it the Council's?_

I like cats and dogs and most any animal except for amphibians and big reptiles. I like the dango they sell in the shop across the Academy. I also like to sing, though I'm not really good at it, and I like stuffed animals since they're soft and cuddly and let me feel like I can be the child I am.

_Does he feel any guilt at all? Any remorse, any regret, any _shame _at sending out children to fight an adult's war? At sending us out to die?_

I dislike loud noises and fighting. I don't like getting hurt and I don't like seeing other people get hurt. I don't like small spaces make me feel like I'm trapped in my own coffin.

_He should because one day, it might be his cousin, his niece, his _son _who gets sent out to fight and comes back in a scroll._

My hobbies are reading and singing, though sometimes when the weather's nice gardening can be fun and soothing as well.

_Or it might be him who ends up bleeding in the middle of a battlefield staring up at the face of the murderer who kills him._

My dream for the future is to live.

_I don't want to die. I don't want anyone to die._

* * *

Genma bit down on his senbon hard.

He knew a shinobi's life was riddled with danger. He knew there was a high chance that he wouldn't make it to thirty. He knew what it was he signed up for the day he begged his parents to let him attend the Academy.

He wasn't going to back out now.

After all, someone has to watch his teammate's backs.

"Yosh! I will wake up at dawn to train with my youthful teammates!"

(And maybe one day, he'll be able to trust them to watch his).

"Then we'll meet at training ground twenty at nine in the morning and start with some basic tests to see where you're at skill-wise. Don't forget to eat breakfast!"


End file.
